Hillary Clinton to speak on Syria

Hillary Clinton will make her first public remarks about Syria on Monday when she makes a visit to the White House for an unrelated event, a Clinton aide told POLITICO.

The comments, the first since an unidentified aide said last week that the former secretary of state supports President Barack Obama in going before Congress to get support for a limited strike against Syria, will come after she meets privately with Obama at the White House, the aide said.

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Timeline of Syria crisis response

But they also come as part of a revamped effort to approach a pre-planned policy speech scheduled for Tuesday, which has been overtaken by events in Syria and efforts by the White House to secure support in Congress. Obama himself is planning to address the nation on Tuesday evening, an hour after Clinton speaks in Pennsylvania, to sell his case for a military strike in Syria.

After Clinton meets with Obama, she will then appear at the "Forum to Counter Wildlife Tracking" at the White House, an event where her daughter, Chelsea, is part of the program. Clinton is expected to address Syria at the beginning of the event, in fairly brief remarks, the aide said.

Clinton is not planning a slow-walk of comments this week on Syria. Nor is she planning on saying something different on Tuesday than she'll say Monday at the White House, sources said, adding that she will "reiterate" her support for the president's approach to Congressional approval for a limited strike. The remarks will be "identical" both days, the source said.

A Clinton source said that the upcoming policy speech on transparency and national security she'd referred to in an American Bar Association address last month "was overtaken by events some time ago." Clinton aides have struggled for almost two weeks to explain that the speech was no longer going to be the major address it was once expected to be. Instead, it will be a mix of different ideas and topics, the source said.

"Given the developments in Syria over the last few weeks, plans for a robust policy speech in Philadelphia where she is to receive the Liberty Medal on Tuesday night were put on hold," said the source. "It's simply and obviously not the right time. Furthermore, she is very mindful that she will be speaking only an hour or so before the President addresses the nation."

Anyone looked for more from Clinton, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, will be "sorely disappointed," the source said, adding that if it's what helps draw attention to the "unique moment" of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush presenting Clinton with an honor at her speech Tuesday at the National Constitution Center, "so be it."

Last Tuesday, a Clinton aide said that she "supports the President's effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime's horrific use of chemical weapons."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the extent to which Clinton plans to address Syria in a broader speech Tuesday.